Read Online X-Men and the Mutant Metaphor by Joseph J.; Darowski - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Joseph J.; Darowski
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tensions in the country surounding the Civil Rights movement influenced Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was proposed in June 1963. This is approximately the time when Stan Lee and Jack Kirby may have worked on the first issue of X-Men, which had a cover date of September 1963. The public debate about prejudice and discrimination may have lead to the inclusion of Professor X’s statements in the first issue of the X-Men warning of potential discrimination. The Civil Rights Act was passed in July of 1964. In the time leading up to its passage, and at the time of its passage, news outlets covered horrific acts of discrimination and blatant hatred, such as a hotel manager pouring acid into a swimming pool because African Americans and whites were swimming in it together.
Although the idea of using prejudice as a central theme was present in the dialogue of X-Men comics from the first issue, the representations of prejudice did not come until over a year later. The public debate, the news coverage concerning discrimination, and the political movement of the times likely galvanized what was an idea in the creators’ minds into the central theme of the series. Or at least, it is the central theme while Lee is writing the series, as there is a distinct tonal shift when Roy Thomas comes on as writer. It may have taken a year to discover how to wed the ideas of mutants and prejudice together, but it was an idea Lee would continue to explore while writing the series and one that would become the primary focus of the series after the 1975 relaunch. This is not surprising, as other aspects of the series, such as the Beast’s scientific bent and pseudo-intellectual dialogue, were not introduced for a few issues either. The X-Men evolved as the series progressed in tone, characterization, and theme.
Lee and Kirby, who had Werner Roth finish the pencils on these issues, had one last tale with prejudice as the central theme before Kirby would move on to other projects. A three-part story would introduce one of the most iconic villains in X-Men comic books: the Sentinels. The Sentinels are giant robots built by Dr. Bolivar Trask with the purpose of protecting mankind from the threat of mutants. The Sentinels, however, will not simply wait for mutants to become threatening; they will actively hunt mutants. The first part of the story, “Among Us Stalk . . . The Sentinels!” was published in The X-Men #14 (Nov. 1965) and featured a televised debate between Professor Xavier and Dr. Trask. Professor Xavier argues that “[b]efore giving way to groundless fears, we must first consider—What is a mutant? He is not a monster! He is not neccesarily a menace! He is merely a person who was born with different power or ability than the average human!” (328). Pierre Comtois argues that in this issue “Lee has spelled out the series’ racist subtext, that the hatred and distrust of mutants is nothing but a thinly veiled metaphor for the real world’s prejudices” (107). But the reactions from the crowd do not reflect racist bigotry; they express prejudices against intellectual elites (“What would an egg-headed old stuffed-shirt like him know?”) and political ideologies (“I’ll bet he’s a Communist!” and “He looks more like one of them right-wingers to me!”), but not against mutants (107). The storyline itself features overt actions taken against mutants because they are born different from the majority of humanity, making the racial element a metaphorical theme.
The most interesting character arc in the Sentinels story belongs to Trask, the creator of the mutant-hunting robots. Trask begins the story as a clear bigot, claiming that mankind will be enslaved by mutants. His fear and hatred of mutants drove him to construct the Sentinels as “guardians of the human race” (329). To Trask’s surprise, the Sentinels do not obey his orders, instead revealing that because their decisions are logical and not
Although the idea of using prejudice as a central theme was present in the dialogue of X-Men comics from the first issue, the representations of prejudice did not come until over a year later. The public debate, the news coverage concerning discrimination, and the political movement of the times likely galvanized what was an idea in the creators’ minds into the central theme of the series. Or at least, it is the central theme while Lee is writing the series, as there is a distinct tonal shift when Roy Thomas comes on as writer. It may have taken a year to discover how to wed the ideas of mutants and prejudice together, but it was an idea Lee would continue to explore while writing the series and one that would become the primary focus of the series after the 1975 relaunch. This is not surprising, as other aspects of the series, such as the Beast’s scientific bent and pseudo-intellectual dialogue, were not introduced for a few issues either. The X-Men evolved as the series progressed in tone, characterization, and theme.
Lee and Kirby, who had Werner Roth finish the pencils on these issues, had one last tale with prejudice as the central theme before Kirby would move on to other projects. A three-part story would introduce one of the most iconic villains in X-Men comic books: the Sentinels. The Sentinels are giant robots built by Dr. Bolivar Trask with the purpose of protecting mankind from the threat of mutants. The Sentinels, however, will not simply wait for mutants to become threatening; they will actively hunt mutants. The first part of the story, “Among Us Stalk . . . The Sentinels!” was published in The X-Men #14 (Nov. 1965) and featured a televised debate between Professor Xavier and Dr. Trask. Professor Xavier argues that “[b]efore giving way to groundless fears, we must first consider—What is a mutant? He is not a monster! He is not neccesarily a menace! He is merely a person who was born with different power or ability than the average human!” (328). Pierre Comtois argues that in this issue “Lee has spelled out the series’ racist subtext, that the hatred and distrust of mutants is nothing but a thinly veiled metaphor for the real world’s prejudices” (107). But the reactions from the crowd do not reflect racist bigotry; they express prejudices against intellectual elites (“What would an egg-headed old stuffed-shirt like him know?”) and political ideologies (“I’ll bet he’s a Communist!” and “He looks more like one of them right-wingers to me!”), but not against mutants (107). The storyline itself features overt actions taken against mutants because they are born different from the majority of humanity, making the racial element a metaphorical theme.
The most interesting character arc in the Sentinels story belongs to Trask, the creator of the mutant-hunting robots. Trask begins the story as a clear bigot, claiming that mankind will be enslaved by mutants. His fear and hatred of mutants drove him to construct the Sentinels as “guardians of the human race” (329). To Trask’s surprise, the Sentinels do not obey his orders, instead revealing that because their decisions are logical and not
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